Team USA star Paul George said the Boomers lived up to expectation that they’d be a “dirty” opponent when his team ground out a tough win in a brutal battle at the Olympics.

“We knew we were going to get their best,” George said after the heavily-fancied Americans escaped with a 98-88 win.

“It was an adjustment for us. The game kind of got out of hand early with the physical play.

“We knew that coming in – this team has a knack for being a little dirty.”

George said the US team rose to the physical challenge after emerging from halftime.

“I thought the second half we did a good job of just matching them,” he said.

“We were doing the same stuff they were doing and we got hacked for it. We’re fine playing physical, that’s our game in the NBA, but if they going to allow us to play that way they got to play it both ways.”

George tangled with Matthew Dellavedova in one of the game’s first confrontations and admitted he had targeted the man known around the US as “dirty Delly”.

“We just had to match their physicality,” said George. “That’s what we had to do. That’s the only way a team is going to get us out of our comfort zone is to muddy the game, doing little stuff to get to us.”

His Delly clash was a way to “let them know it wasn’t going to go the way they thought it was going to go”.

August 6, 2016 · 5:20 PM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO —Andrew Bogut didn’t know if he’d be able to play in the Olympics until Friday. Bogut, who injured his left knee in Game 5 of The Finals, played less than 10 minutes in just one of Australia’s six exhibition games leading into the games, and wasn’t going to make a final call on his status until the day of the opening ceremony, when final rosters were due.

“If it wasn’t right yesterday, I’m going to fly back home,” he said Saturday. “But it was good enough to play.”

Not only that, Bogut looked to be 100 percent in leading Australia to an easy, 87-66 win over France in the opening contest in Rio. Bogut tallied 18 points on 9-for-10 shooting, elevating for several dunks, even one where he ran a pick-and-roll (as the ball-handler) with teammate Joe Ingles setting the screen.

Australia looked terrific. France, thought to be a medal favorite, did not. Tony Parker scored 18 points, but didn’t get much help. Boris Diaw shot 4-for-11 and Nicolas Batum took just three shots, as France couldn’t handle the physical play of Australia.

Andrew Bogut finished with 18 points in Australia’s win over France in the 2016 Olympics opener.

“Before this tournament, we said our identity’s going to be we need to be ***** defensively,” Bogut said. “We need to be in guys. We need to be physical. That’s the only chance we have to beat a lot of these teams that are a little more talented than us.”

France needed some aggressiveness from someone other than Parker, but it’s not necessarily in them to take advantage of one-on-one matchups.

“It’s not our game to play one-on-one,” Diaw said. “That’s not us. We got to move the ball.”

More concerning was their defense, which got beat back door early and often. Even with Rudy Gobert on the floor for France, Australia controlled the paint.

And Bogut was a huge part of that. If he couldn’t play, there would be a big void in the Australia offense, which counts on him more than the Warriors did (and the Mavs will).

“Obviously, with the Warriors, he doesn’t have the ball as much,” Ingles said. “He’s more of a screener and a ball-mover. With us, we want him to have the ball as much as possible. Between him and Patty [Mills], we’re trying to get them [going] and play off it.”

Mills led Australia with 21 points, while Matthew Dellavedova dished out a game-high 10 assists. Bogut added five dimes himself, as Australia registered 29 assists on its 35 field goals.

“He’s the best big passer in the NBA, probably in the world,” Ingles said of Bogut. “The more the ball’s in his hands, the better for us.”

Bogut’s play is an encouraging sign for Australia, which should have no problems qualifying for elimination out of Group A with a win already in hand and games against China and Venezuela still to come. France certainly has the ability to bounce back, but will likely need a win against Serbia to avoid finishing fourth in the group and facing Group B’s top team in the quarterfinals.

April 8, 2016 · 6:54 PM ET

There will be plenty of familiar NBA names wearing the green and gold of Australia at the 2016 Olympics this summer. Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes and on-the-mend Dante Exum are all on board to play for the Boomers in Rio.

But possible No. 1 pick in the draft Ben Simmons will pass on joining his mates, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.

Generally regarded as the top college freshman this year, the 19-year-old Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists for LSU. He’s drawn comparisons to Magic Johnson for his size and court vision. However the 6-10 forward was unable to lead his team to a berth in the NCAA Tournament and could use work on his outside shot, defense and overall concentration on the court. The belief is he’ll help his pro career more by joining whichever team drafts him for play in one of the NBA summer leagues rather than play in the Olympics.

It was bad to be a trash can if Kobe Bryant was mad.

This was years ago, back when there were championship expectations, but Bryant booted one clear across the Lakers’ locker room at Madison Square Garden after a rough loss.

It was also sometimes bad to be toilet paper, apparently. Bryant angrily called his teammates “soft like Charmin” during a rant at practice in which he didn’t feel challenged. This was a little over a year ago.

The smoldering Bryant is now replaced by a smiling one, even as the Lakers (8-30) pinwheel toward the worst season in their 68-year history.

The losses don’t seem as devastating to him.

“I just hide it a lot better,” he said Friday.

***

No. 2:Lopez doesn’t regret sticking with Brooklyn — Last summer, Brooklyn center Brook Lopez was one of the most talented big men available in free agency. He eventually re-upped with the Nets, and though the team has struggled this season, Lopez has been a bright spot, averaging 19.8 points to go with 7.8 rebounds. The Nets may face an uncertain future, but as Andy Vasquez writes for the Bergen Record, Lopez says he has no regrets about re-signing with the Nets…

The Nets are in the midst of another disappointing season, certainly far from what Lopez envisioned when he re-signed. But the 27-year-old doesn’t regret his decision.

“No, no, no. I’m happy to be here,” Lopez said Thursday at the team’s practice facility.

“Time and time again I’ve said I wanted to see something built here, I see a special opportunity, a great situation to be in.”

The current situation isn’t exactly a bright one. Brooklyn just lost starting point guard Jarrett Jack for the season with a torn ACL.

Rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who showed promise, is at least another month from returning from a broken ankle that has sidelined him since early December.

While the Nets aren’t mathematically eliminated from the NBA playoffs — it’s not even halfway through the season — they may as well be.

Brooklyn is closer (seven games ahead) in the standings to the awful Sixers than to the final playoff spot in the East (nine games behind).

The Nets don’t have control of their first round draft pick until 2019 thanks to the 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

So the franchise’s best chance is to hope free agents agree with Lopez about there being a special opportunity in Brooklyn.

Despite all the doom and gloom, the Nets do have some things going for them.

They should have about $40 million in cap space next summer, enough to offer two max salaries to free agents.

Barclays Center is still the league’s newest arena and the team’s state-of-the art Brooklyn practice facility opens next month. And then there’s the lure of the nation’s largest media market.

“The opportunity to play in New York, first and foremost,” Lopez said, when asked how he’d pitch the Nets. “The facilities we have. I think, for me, it’s all about potential.”

That potential starts with Lopez and Thaddeus Young, 27, two nice players with several prime years remaining in their careers. Both are having seasons worthy of All-Star consideration.

Meanwhile, Hollis-Jefferson was better than expected when he played. And the Nets have an intriguing young prospect in Chris McCullough, who has spent the season rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered at Syracuse a year ago.

Add the right pieces and the Nets could be a good team next season. And Lopez said that matters more than anything.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning, regardless of where you are,” Lopez said.

“Whether we’re luring free agents or want people to stay or whatever it is, you’ve got to be able to show them that there’s opportunities here for that. We have to have the right product on the court.”

***

No. 3:Stevens rejoins Celtics — Before joining the Boston Celtics, coach Brad Stevens led Butler University to several memorable NCAA Tournament appearances. And with his former Butler player Andrew Smith in the hospital battling cancer, Stevens recently missed a Celtics game in order to spend time with Smith. Stevens rejoined the Celtics on Saturday and, as the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn writes, says the last few days helped put things into perspective…

Celtics coach Brad Stevens returned to the team Saturday, conducting a rather important practice at the University of Memphis in his quest to end the team’s recent doldrums.

He returned from his trip to Indiana with a heavy heart. He acknowledged visiting former player Andrew Smith, who has been suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but wouldn’t offer specifics on his condition, only to say he felt compelled to visit him immediately.

“It’s very tough, not as tough on me as it is certain on [Smith and his family], but certainly emotionally, very challenging,” Stevens said following practice at the Larry Finch Center. “It certainly puts things in a lot of perspective. The conditions [of Smith] were worsening. I’ll let [his family] talk about his condition. I’m glad that I went.”

Stevens returns to a team that has lost four of five games and fallen out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics have been abysmal shooting from the field in their past two losses — 36.5 percent from the field, 25.5 percent from the 3-point line — and are playing with wavering confidence.

“We could have controlled things to give ourselves a little bit better chance,” Stevens said of the Chicago loss. “I told [the players] this today. We’ve got to get better in a lot of areas. But we usually play hard.

“Sometimes we play a little haphazard but we usually play hard, so we need to bottle that up and play a little more controlled at times.”

Isaiah Thomas, who has made just 11 of 37 shots in the last two games, took full responsibility for the Bulls loss, saying his poor body language and frustrations spilled over to his teammates. Stevens didn’t fully agree.

“I think it says a lot about him from an accountability standpoint,” Stevens said of Thomas. “And at the same time, that’s an overreaction too, because we don’t feel that way. He’s going to have his moments. Other guys are going to have their moments. Other guys are going to have bad moments. We just all have to be in this thing together. We need to improve.”

***

No. 4:NBA’s Australians looking forward to Rio — The NBA has become a global league, followed worldwide and played by athletes from all corners of the earth. Australia, in particular, has become a hotbed of hoops, with its own popular domestic league and several NBA players who originated Down Under. As Roy Ward writes in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australians in the NBA are looking forward to trying to find Olympic glory this summer in Rio…

The 82-game NBA season engulfs the lives of all players and Australia’s basketballers are not immune from this.

But on planes, buses or in down time, the country’s leading players admit their thoughts turn to the Rio Olympics and the glass ceiling that sits in front of a first men’s Olympic medal.

Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Cameron Bairstow, Aron Baynes and Joe Ingles are all in thick of the action this season while Dante Exum continues to rehabilitate his reconstructed knee.

In Europe, in US college basketball and in the NBL sit the rest of the Boomers aspirants with the final 12-man squad not due to be announced until later in the year.

Since the team qualified for Rio in August last year, they have made public their goal to win the gold medal in Brazil despite Team USA’s long-running dominance in the men’s competition.

What adds credence to the Boomers’ brave stance is Bogut, Mills, Dellavedova and Bairstow are playing on NBA championship contenders while Bogut, Mills and Baynes have won NBA championship rings since 2014.

“There is a lot going on here but while it’s not the every day to day focus it’s always in your mind that it’s coming up and that all the boys are playing well, not just in the NBA but in Europe and the NBL,” Dellavedova said.

“We are all very excited and keep in regular touch through group message, we are going to catch up at All-Star break.

“We are all very excited, focused and committed to trying to do something really special at Rio and we realise the time is now for that.”

July 1, 2015 · 10:27 AM ET

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY — Free agency began at midnight ET on Tuesday night. When the season ended, there were 46 free agents set to be restricted free agents, where their teams could match any offer they received.

But in order for a player to be a restricted free agent on Wednesday, his team needed to extend him a qualifying offer by Tuesday. If signed by the player, that qualifying offer is a binding, one-year contract (like with Greg Monroe last year).

If the player signs an offer sheet from another team, his current team has three days to match it. If he doesn’t, he can also sign a new contract with his current team.

26 of the 46 potential restricted free agents received qualifying offers. The other 20 did not. Here’s a rundown…

Restricted

The following players received qualifying offers and are restricted free agents.

Pero Antic – Atlanta

Will Barton – Denver

Patrick Beverley – Houston

Jimmy Butler – Chicago

Nick Calathes – Memphis

Norris Cole – New Orleans

Jae Crowder – Boston

Matthew Dellavedova – Cleveland

Draymond Green – Golden State

Tobias Harris – Orlando

Robbie Hummel – Minnesota

Joe Ingles – Utah

Reggie Jackson – Detroit

Cory Joseph – San Antonio

Enes Kanter – Oklahoma City

Brandon Knight – Phoenix

Ognjen Kuzmic – Golden State

Kawhi Leonard – San Antonio

K.J. McDaniels – Houston

Khris Middleton – Milwaukee

Kyle O’Quinn – Orlando

Iman Shumpert – Cleveland

Kyle Singler – Oklahoma City

Mirza Teletovic – Brooklyn

Tristan Thompson – Cleveland

Jeff Withey – New Orleans

Note 1: Antic has agreed to a contract with Turkish team Fenerbahce, according to his agent. Even though he’s left the league, the Hawks can retain the right to match a deal should he ever return.

Note 2: The Raptors also extended a qualifying offer to Nando de Colo, who played with CSKA Moscow last year, so that they can match a deal should he ever return to the league.

Unrestricted

The following players did not receive qualifying offers and are unrestricted free agents.

January 24, 2015 · 10:07 PM ET

What in the NBA was viewed as a typical lineup change, albeit with the added interest of involving a 2014 lottery pick/ international sensation, was also cause for national pride as Australia continued a historic rise to basketball prominence.

The decision by Quin Snyder to replace incumbent Trey Burke with Dante Exum as the Jazz starting point guard Thursday in Milwaukee — the first time that had happened with Burke healthy — would have been big enough Down Under, where Exum is the embodiment of Australia’s new NBA influence. That his backcourt partner was a fellow Aussie rookie, Joe Ingles, made it an even bigger deal a hemisphere away. And that Snyder’s move came just two games and four days after four Australians were on the floor together for the first time in league history — Ingles and Exum along with Patty Mills and Aron Baynes of the Spurs on Sunday in San Antonio — added to the groundbreaking week back home.

That’s some hot streak for a country that has supported the NBA in impressive ways and has long sent players to North America (Andrew Bogut, Mills, Luc Longley, others) but only in the last couple years has been appreciated for regularly producing top talent. It continued Saturday night in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz stayed with the Exum-Ingles backcourt, and were expected to do so into at least the near future.

“We’ve seen Patty Mills and Aron Baynes win a championship with the Spurs, Danté Exum get drafted inside the top five — becoming just the second player from Australia to be selected so high, and a record seven players in the NBA over the last seven months. As you can imagine, it’s been an incredibly exciting period for Australian NBA fans. The excitement and the buzz has been around for a little while now, but it felt like it was at fever pitch in the past week as we saw four Australians on an NBA court for the first time, and then Danté and Joe starting together for the second time against the Bucks, and both play well in a gritty victory. Since the season started, the mainstream media has joined in on the excitement, and it’s just continuing to grow as we see new records being created. The Australian fans are very knowledgeable. While they’re excited for Danté, they also know that he has a long way to go and we need to temper our expectations and let his game develop, but the media and the fans are handling his development, and the development of all of our players fairly well. It just gets hard to not be swept up in it sometimes.”

Australia was big business for the NBA even before this, ranking as the No. 1 country outside North America in League Pass subscriptions and No. 1 in eCommerce business heading into 2014-15, according to league officials. The talent pipeline getting stronger in recent years through the Draft and with second-round picks James Ennis (Miami) last season and Jordan McRae (Philadelphia) this season choosing to play there rather than Europe or the D-League adds to the relationship.

“There’s a few things that are helpful,” Scott Levy, the senior vice president and managing director of NBA Asia & India, which overseas Australia and New Zealand, said before the season. “One, it’s a very strong economy. Everyone has credit cards. There’s good Internet penetration, so you can watch a 2½-hour game and have a consistent, secure connection and be able to access that and you can pay for the service as well. That helps. And the consumption by Australians around sports in general – not just NBA, but all sports – if you were to compare that to the amount spent on all sports in any country in the world, Australia would rank right up there at the top per capita. There’s just an incredible passion for sports in that country.”

All-Star weekend will be the next step. Bogut won’t be on the Western Conference squad, but his play with the Warriors has been a major factor in Steve Kerr earning the spot as West coach in New York next month. The Rising Stars Challenge, formerly the rookie sophomore event, could include several players from the region. Matthew Dellavedova (Cavaliers/Australia) and Steven Adams (Thunder/New Zealand) have a good chance to get picked while Ingles and Exum are both possibilities.

September 5, 2014 · 5:26 PM ET

MADRID — It’s fine to assume that the United States and Spain will face off in the gold medal game of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sept. 14. But it wouldn’t be wise to wait until then to pay attention to the action in Barcelona and Madrid, because there’s plenty of good basketball to be played between the 16 remaining teams.

The knockout rounds get started with eight games on Saturday and Sunday, and there will be at least four good teams packing their bags before the weekend is done. It’s win-or-go-home time, there are still 47 active NBA players in the tournament, and the games are only 40 minutes long. Anything can happen, including an upset of one of the two favorites.

Don’t be looking for that this weekend, though. Appropriately, USA and Spain play two of the worst teams remaining. But there are four games – three in Madrid and one in Barcelona – that could go either way. And for NBA fans, there are more reasons than that to watch.

USA (5-0) vs. Mexico (2-3)

Barcelona – Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, ESPN2

Things won’t get interesting for the U.S. until at least the semifinals. But there are still things to work on before then. The defense could be tighter, the half-court offense could definitely be sharper, and Derrick Rose needs more court time to start finishing plays better.

This will be free agent Gustavo Ayon‘s last (and best) chance to audition for NBA teams. Mexico also has Nets back-up point guard Jorge Gutierrez and was one of the best offensive rebounding teams in group play, grabbing 37 percent of available offensive boards.

Croatia (3-2) vs. France (3-2)

Madrid – Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, NBA TV

This game features a couple of fascinating matchups between French vets and Croatian young guns. On the wing, we’ll see the Blazers’ Nicolas Batum vs. incoming Nets rookie Bojan Bogdanovic, who has been the tournament’s sixth leading scorer at 20.0 points per game. And at the four, we’ll have the Spurs’ Boris Diaw vs. Sixers draft pick Dario Saric, one of the most intriguing young talents we’ve seen in Europe in a long time.

A more important matchup could be between two NBA draft picks at center. France’s Joffrey Lauvergne (rights held by Denver) will be outsized by Croatia’s Ante Tomic (Utah), but could use his quickness to make things tough on the seven footer.

Croatia has been inconsistent, but has a ton of talent, including incoming Pacers rookie Damjan Rudez. France is the safer pick here and beat Croatia without Diaw a month ago, but Croatia might have the higher ceiling on a good night.

Slovenia (4-1) vs. Dominican Republic (2-3)

Barcelona – Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Slovenia had the No. 1 offense in group play, even though it continued to be rather conservative with Goran Dragic‘s minutes. He had a ridiculous effective field goal percentage of 69.6 percent in his team’s five games, but is just the tournament’s 10th leading scorer.

The Dominican Republic features Francisco Garcia (20.2 points per game), some solid role players, and a decent defense. It got through via a tiebreaker and didn’t have any quality wins in Group C, but if Garcia and fellow gunner James Feldeine get hot, this could get interesting, because Slovenia hasn’t proven it can get stops.

Spain (5-0) vs. Senegal (2-3)

Madrid – Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Spain’s point differential wasn’t as big as USA’s, but it had more impressive wins in Group A, beating Brazil, France and Serbia (all medal contenders) by an average of 19.7 points. The hosts have been a more cohesive unit with more depth.

Their success starts with their huge frontline, featuring Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, who will play all of the team’s meaningful minutes at the four and five (sorry, Victor Claver fans). But their guards have done a fine job of providing ball pressure and pushing the ball in transition, where this team is a highlight machine.

Senegal, with the Wolves’ Gorgui Dieng leading the way, was one of the feel-good stories of group play. But that story comes to an end Saturday night in Madrid.

Lithuania (4-1) vs. New Zealand (2-3)

Barcelona – Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, NBA TV

Despite losing point guard Mantas Kalnietis in its last exhibition game, Lithuania has been one of the best teams in the tournament. It avoided the U.S. until the semis with Thursday’s big win over Slovenia and, therefore, should be considered the team most likely to play for the bronze medal.

Donatas Motiejunas and Jonas Valanciunas are the names NBA fans know, but this is a deep and experienced roster that likes to grind it out at a slow pace.

That slow pace could help New Zealand hang around for a while. But this team lacks the talent and size to match up with a European power.

Greece (5-0) vs. Serbia (2-3)

Madrid – Sunday, 12 p.m. ET, NBA TV

You might remember the infamous bench-clearing brawl, featuring Nenad Krstic throwing a chair at Giannis Bourousis, that these two teams had in a 2010 “friendly” game. And therefore, you might be curious to see what happens when they meet again.

Extracurriculars aside, this should be one of the best games of the weekend. Serbia is obviously the best team with a losing record, having lost to France by a point and having held a seven-point lead over Brazil in the fourth quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo is reason enough to tune in to see Greece, but this team’s talent goes well beyond his long arms and strides. It went undefeated in Group B for a reason.

Turkey (3-2) vs. Australia (3-2)

Barcelona – Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBA TV

This is where Australia wanted to be, seemingly throwing away Thursday’s game vs. Angola in order to avoid the U.S. until the semifinals. Doing that though, they put themselves in the best game of the Barcelona side of the bracket.

Neither Aron Baynes (who’s still a restricted free agent) nor Joe Ingles (who might get an NBA contract before Baynes does) played against Angola, but have been Australia’s best players. Jazz rookie Dante Exum has had a limited role behind the Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova.

Turkey has had, by far, the biggest free throw attempt differential (plus-71) in the tournament, in part because opponents hack Omer Asik whenever he gets the ball near the basket. But their zone defense also keeps opponents out of the paint and off the line.

Australia ranked last in group-play 3-point attempts, but made 52 percent of the ones they took. That shooting vs. Turkey’s zone could determine who plays Lithuania on Tuesday.

Brazil (4-1) vs. Argentina (3-2)

Madrid – Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, NBA TV

FIBA knows how to save the best for last. These two teams ranked third and seventh in pace-adjusted point differential in group play.

If this matchup looks familiar, it’s because these two teams faced each other in this same round in the 2010 World Championship, in the final of the 2011 FIBA Americas tournament, and in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Olympics. Each time, Argentina won by five points or less. The 2010 game, in particular, was an early-round classic.

So Brazil is out for a little revenge, and has arguably been the third best team thus far, picking up quality wins over France and Serbia. Argentina, of course, has #FIBAScola.

If you’ve only watched Luis Scola play in the NBA, then you’ve been missing out. The Scola that plays for his national team is a scoring machine. Brazil’s NBA trio of Nene, Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao will try to slow him down on Sunday.

Brazil’s own offense, fueled by a crafty backcourt of Marcelo Huertas and Leandro Barbosa, has picked up of late. It’s a shame that, for the third straight major international tournament, one of these two teams won’t make it past the first knockout round.